


Streets of London

by gingersatan



Category: All For the Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-18
Updated: 2016-05-18
Packaged: 2018-06-09 07:19:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6895249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingersatan/pseuds/gingersatan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU in which Neil takes Witness Protection and so Andrew disappears to find him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Streets of London

Andrew hated goodbyes. He hated a lot of things, but goodbyes were the worse, because they were broken promises from yet another person.

He didn’t even know why he thought this would end differently. Neil had always wanted to run. And now- he could run and never look back, and he was. 

Andrew hated him more than ever in that second. The second that Neil had looked into his eyes and said that one word, Andrew wanted to- he didn’t know what he wanted to do, but it wasn’t watching Neil stand up and walk out of the room and out of the Foxes lives forever.

The other Foxes had tried to help over the next few days- even those Andrew knew hated him- but he didn’t want any of it. All he could do was sit by the window and smoke and watch the sunlight glint off his knives. Renee had come in to talk to him, and all he could do was stare at her. Even Nicky knew to be quiet around him- Andrew never thought it could be possible.

It only took Kevin three days to lose his temper. He stalked up to Andrew and said just one word.

‘Exy.’

His throat was still mottled in the bruises made by Andrews hands. And he refused to feel remorse. If they had just told him, if Kevin had just said, Neil would still be here, still have to stay because of his promise. His hands curled into fists at his side as he glared at the other boy.

‘We have games-’

‘Its over, Kevin.’ He couldn’t even sound angry. ‘Neil isn’t coming back so you are down to eight. We can’t complete the year.’ 

‘But-’

Andrew stood, grabbing his car keys from the desk. ‘I’m going.’

‘What?’ 

Andrew took a step, and out the corner of his eye, he saw Kevin reach towards him.

‘If you touch me I will kill you.’

Kevin paused- there was enough murder in Andrew’s eyes at that moment for the threat to be taken seriously. More seriously than normal.

‘You can’t go.’

Andrew hated everything about the other boy at that moment- a different type of hate to the one he felt for Neil. This one, this hate stemmed from his promise to keep Kevin safe, it stemmed from the 2 on Kevins cheek, everything about him.

‘Try and stop me.’

Unsurprisingly, Kevin stepped away. And Andrew walked past him, down the stairs and out of the building.

So many broken promises in his life, and he just added another to the list. But he didn’t care, not when he didn’t count his promise to Neil as finished. Neil had stopped it to protect him. But then Neil had been taken.

Andrew didn’t care if Witness Protection made him safe. Andrew could keep him safe. He didn’t care if it was just another excuse for Neil to run. Neil was a coward and had always run, and he should have stayed.

They- all the Foxes- were his family. He hadn’t just left Andrew, he had left them all.

And so, Andrew searched for him.

Time was nothing, Exy and the Foxes became nothing. All he thought of was a face- because Neil would no longer be Neil. Or Nathanial. He would be a new person in a new place, looking new. 

Andrew travelled. From one end of America and back again, searching for any hint of the boy he knew. And he travelled back again. Exy was all Neil had known, had wanted, and he would never have been able to leave it be. So Andrew looked at each tiny team closely, seeing if they had picked up Raven training or someone new that no one knew about  
But there was nothing, and with each passing day Andrew hated Neil more.

A year after Andrew left, even Nicky had stopped texting him to make sure he was alive.

Two years after Andrew left, he boarded a plane and started searching the world. Country by country, city by city.

He had almost given up by the time he reached London, with its grey clouds and never ending drizzle, the weather that matched the mood he hadn’t felt shift for years. He wasn’t even looking anymore, not really, because he had given up long ago. He should have known better- every broken promise and every person that had left him and hurt him and he should have known Neil was no better.

A flash of brown hair. So many people in the world had brown hair, but something about it made Andrew pause. Pause, and then follow. Pushing through the crowd, that brown hair always a few people in front of him- until the man turned a corner and disappeared. Andrew sped up, only to find himself in the entrance to a dead end, a useless alleyway between buildings. Stood in front of a man with ice blue eyes and brown hair and scars that Andrew remembered the injuries from like it was yesterday.

For the first time, Andrew was speechless.

Before, he had always chosen not to use his words- they were meaningless and useless and wasted on people like the Foxes. With Neil, he had sometimes found them, but now, as Andrew stared at him, he could not find any of them. 

He could barely remember what his voice sounded like, he had not used it in so long.

So they stared at each other, Neil waiting, his face expressionless. Andrew was almost glad he had left his knives with Renee; he didn’t trust himself in this second.

‘I hate you.’ Andrew choked out finally.

Neil’s face fell, slightly. ‘I know.’

Andrew took a step forward. ‘You left me.’

‘I know.’

‘You promised.’

‘What else was I meant to do?’

‘Stay. We would have protected you. You could have stayed. You could have stayed with me.’

‘Andrew.’

‘I hate you.’ But there was less heat in his voice now, and Neil risked his own step forward, so they were toe to toe, Andrew looking up slightly, Neil looking down.

‘How long have you been looking for me?’ Andrew didn’t reply, and Neil’s lips curled up slightly. ‘I didn’t think you cared.’

‘I should have forgotten about you.’

‘I’m too interesting to forget.’

Again, Andrew said nothing.

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t.’

‘I left, and I ran, and I was scared. I didn’t know what else to do. I ran even when I knew you would have helped me. So I am sorry.’

Andrew closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, Neil’s hand was out towards him. Andrew looked at it.

‘Let’s start again.’ Neil said. ‘My name is Neil, and its nice to meet you. Would you like to come back to mine?’ Andrew stared at the hand still, but Neil did not drop it. ‘I have alcohol. And ice cream.’

‘Walk.’ Andrew said.

And Neil smiled, leading the way back through the London streets.

And for the first time in many years, Andrew wondered if this time, he was allowed to hope for something…more.


End file.
